The Mace is the hardest-hitting melee weapon in Minecraft, and it was introduced in Update 1.21 (Tricky Trials). Quick answer: to craft a Mace, place 1 Heavy Core in the top slot of a crafting grid with 1 Breeze Rod directly below it. That vertical pair produces a single Mace. The tricky part is not the crafting itself but gathering the two ingredients, since both come from Trial Chambers.
This guide walks through exactly what you need, how to lay out the crafting grid, and how to get the most out of the Mace’s signature smash attack. If you play on a shared world, a stable Minecraft server hosting setup makes farming Trial Chambers with friends far easier.
Materials You Need
- 1 Heavy Core — drops only from Ominous Vaults in Trial Chambers, at roughly a 7.5% chance. Opening an Ominous Vault requires an Ominous Trial Key, which you get from an Ominous Trial started while under the Bad Omen effect. The Heavy Core is an obsidian-tier block (hardness 10, blast resistance 1,200) and is mined with a pickaxe.
- 1 Breeze Rod — dropped by the Breeze mob found in Trial Chambers. A Breeze drops 1–2 rods with a 100% drop rate when killed by a player or a tamed wolf. Looting raises the yield (Looting I: 2–4, Looting II: 3–6, Looting III: 4–8).
- Any crafting grid — the 2×2 inventory grid works, so you do not strictly need a crafting table.
Both ingredients live inside Trial Chambers, so a single expedition can supply everything. To learn how the keys and vaults tie together, see our guide on what Trial Keys do in Minecraft.
How to Craft a Mace in Minecraft
- Enter a Trial Chamber and kill a Breeze to collect at least one Breeze Rod.
- Trigger an Ominous Trial. Drink an Ominous Bottle or otherwise gain the Bad Omen effect, then activate a trial spawner to start an Ominous Trial. Completing it rewards Ominous Trial Keys.
- Open an Ominous Vault with an Ominous Trial Key. Keep opening vaults until you receive a Heavy Core — expect about a 1-in-13 chance per vault, so bring several keys.
- Open a crafting grid. Any grid works, including the 2×2 grid in your inventory.
- Place the Heavy Core in the top slot and the Breeze Rod directly beneath it in the slot below. The wiki recipe shows the Heavy Core positioned directly above the Breeze Rod as a vertical 2×1 pair.
- Take the Mace from the output slot. One Heavy Core plus one Breeze Rod yields exactly one Mace.
If crafting fails, double-check the vertical order: the Heavy Core goes on top, the Breeze Rod on the bottom. Once made, the Mace has 500 durability in Java Edition (501 in Bedrock) and can be repaired in an anvil using more Breeze Rods.
Uses and Tips
The Mace deals 6 base attack damage (3 hearts) with a slow attack speed of 0.6 in Java Edition, and it carries the Epic rarity tag. Its real power is the smash attack.
- Smash attack: attacking a target while falling at least 1.5 blocks triggers bonus damage scaled by fall distance. The bonus is 4 damage per block for the first 3 blocks, 2 per block for the next 5 blocks, then 1 per block for every block after that. There is no upper cap, so the damage can climb indefinitely with enough height.
- No self fall damage: a successful smash negates your own fall damage and creates a shockwave, making high dives both safe and devastating.
- Density (max V): Mace-exclusive enchantment that adds 0.5 smash damage per level for each block fallen. Incompatible with Breach.
- Breach (max IV): reduces the target’s armor effectiveness by 15% per level — best against heavily armored foes. Incompatible with Density.
- Wind Burst (max III): a successful smash launches you upward so you can chain smash attacks. In Java Edition it comes from Ominous Vault loot rather than the enchanting table.
Because Breeze Rods have other uses too — crafting Wind Charges (1 rod = 4), duplicating the Flow Armor Trim, brewing Potions of Wind Charging, and repairing the Mace — it’s worth farming extras. For a full enchantment breakdown across every item, see our Minecraft enchantments list, and pair the Mace with defensive gear from our shield and Netherite armor guides. An XP farm helps you afford all those enchantments.
Frequently Asked Questions
What version added the Mace?
The Mace, Heavy Core, and Breeze Rod all arrived in Update 1.21 (Tricky Trials). In Java Edition the Mace first appeared as an experimental feature in snapshot 24w11a and became non-experimental in 24w18a. On Bedrock, the Heavy Core was added in Preview 1.20.80.22.
Where do I get a Heavy Core?
The Heavy Core drops only from Ominous Vaults inside Trial Chambers, at about a 7.5% chance per vault. You need an Ominous Trial Key to open one, so plan on running several Ominous Trials.
Can I craft a Mace without a crafting table?
Yes. The recipe uses only two vertically stacked slots, so the 2×2 crafting grid in your inventory is enough. Place the Heavy Core on top and the Breeze Rod directly below it.
How much damage does the Mace do?
Its base attack damage is 6 (3 hearts). The smash attack adds fall-scaled bonus damage — 4 per block for the first 3 blocks, 2 per block for the next 5, then 1 per block beyond that, with no cap. Density and Breach enchantments push this even higher.
How do I repair a Mace?
Combine the Mace with Breeze Rods in an anvil. Since Breeze Rods are also used for Wind Charges and potions, keep a stockpile from your Trial Chamber runs. For more crafting projects, try our guides on building a beacon, copper bulbs, and making a Nether portal.
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